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SCARED... NEED ADVICE!

my 4 year old goes to test on Wed and there is a very strong possibility that he will be starting K at 4 years old... the school told me that it was ok because if he did bad that he would not be behind. I do not think he is ready... he is still a mommas boy and silly but with saying that he has the book smarts to start. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Do I tell them to send him to 4 or more program or let him go to K and see how he does? I am so scared about the whole transition in the first place so the extras don't help!

Why is he starting so early? Here in MO they can't start until they are 5. No matter what. If you aren't comfortable I would keep him back till next year. IMO I think it would be better maturity wise to keep him out until next year.

If he is ready I'd send him. My ds tested out of 1st in every subject at 4yo but the school would not let him go ahead. He hated preschool. He goes to a Motessori school now and loves it. It was very stressful for me finding him the right school. I was scared he'd be bored and get into loads of trouble. I would have jumped at the chance to send him to a higher grade.

From my own experience I don't recommend it. I started school at age 4 and I did fine academically but I was always the youngest and smallest in my class when 5th grade started I was 9 years old and emotionally not ready to go to 6th grade where most of the kids were almost 12.

I would do pre K first. It's not just about smarts but also about learning to follow teacher direction and other social skills. I have never heard of a child starting Kindergarten at the age of 4. My ds was the youngest child in his class and he had turned 5 about 3.5 weeks before school started. I was even given the option to start the year after since he was so young but he had been in Pre-K for a whole year before so he was ready. When he first started we realized that kids that were almost a year older were far ahead of him with reading and writing and so he did get frustrated at times. By the end of the year he was caught up with them but being the youngest did have a bit of an effect on him.

I wouldn't do kindergarten for a 4 year old, my baby is the youngest in her pre-k4 class, she turned 4 on the 19th of August, and that's much younger and more immature than many...she'll turn 5 the first week of kindergarten next year.

You could always continue to teach him at home for this year and have him start next year at 5. our schools you have to be 5 on August 31st to start kindergarten. my son was plenty smart enough last year to start school, but even if it was allowed, I would have waited because he wasn't anywhere near mature enough.

If it was me i would look how he is socially no matter what the test says. I have a cousin who was jumpped head a lot through school and he wasn't socially ready and now he still has trouble socially. There is no shame in letting him stay with kids his own age even if he is smart enough to move ahead. I believe kids need to develop socially and mentally together. You are the mother so its up to you but that is my advice.

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